Arc welding



Oct. 23, 1934. v. MILLER 1,978,317

ARC WELDING Original FfiJ ed Sept. 1, 1952 H 3 71 .Z a; W/

Patented-Oct. 23,1934

1 UNITED STATES am: WELDING Virdis Miller, Schenectady, N. r. assignor to Gen eral Electric Company, a corporation of Nib York Original application September 1, 1932, Serial No]. 631,351. Divided and this application July l,

' 1933, Serial No. 679,335

5 Claims. (Cl. 21H) My invention relates to arc welding.

In my application, Serial No. 631,351, filed September 1, 1932, for Are welding 1 have disclosed and claimed an improved method oi welding by 6 means of which the action of the arc is restricted bothlaterallyand in 'the direction of welding, and in which the weld metal is covered during the welding operation with a molten slag which is permitted to solidify on the weld.

The presentapplication is a division of the above-identified application and relates to welding apparatus adapted for performing the method of welding described and claimed in that application.

In the accompanying drawing Fig. 1 illustrates apparatus for automatically performing my improved methodof welding, and Figs. 2-and 3 illustrate the application of the welding flux and theactionoftheweldingarcupontheiluxand 30 the work when welding in accordance with my invention.

The apparatus illustrated in Fig. l for automatically performing a welding operation in accordance with my invention comprism a welding 25 head lobymeansofwhichaweldingarcisautomatically maintained between an electrode 11 and the work parts 12. This welding head is supported on a member 13 through brackets 14 and 15 by means of which its position relative to the N workmaybeadiusted. Theweldingheadmaybe adjusted-in a horizontal direction along the arm of bracket 14 by means of an adiusting screw 16 provided with a hand-wheel 1'7, and may be adjusted vertically by movement of bracket 15 whose position relative to member 13 is determined by screw 18 provided with a handle 19. The welding head and the work are traversed relatively to one another by relatively moving sup-.

ports-13 and20. Theworkparts 12aswellasa filler strip 21, which may be employed for supplying additional weld metal, are held in adjusted relation relativeb to one another on support 20 byc a n Prior to the welding operationthe machine 5 amount of air pressure applied to the reservoir through a pipe 29 by an adjustment of valve 30. As illustrated in the drawing, the reservoir 26 comprises a closed cylinder having a head 31 which may be removed for supplying fluxing material thereto.

Referring to Figs. 2 and 3 the layer of fluxing material 23 applied to the work is of suificient width and thickness to surround the arcing terminal of the electrode. Generally, a layer oneeighth, of an inch thick and at least a half inch wider than the diameter of the electrode will prove to be satisfactory. The welding operation is performed by traversing the arcing terminal of the electrodg through the central portion of this flux coating which restricts the action of the are both laterally and in thedirection of welding. That part of the flux 32 which is fused by the are forms a molten slag which is held in place on the weld 33 by the portions 34 thereof whichremainunfusedandactasa retainingwall for it. T'hearc 35 is restricted in area by the presence of the flux on the work and its force and heat are directed downwardly to cut awai the metal from the plates, force it backward and mix it with the molten metal in the pool 36 thus causing the entire pool to have nearly the same temperature. This temperature is not very much above the melting point of the metal and, consequently, the metal does not boil and form upon cooling at large crystalline grain structure. The are has along flame 37 which is forced to play along the surface of the pool and cause it to remain liquid long enough to allow gases and impurities in the molten metal to rise to the surface actionupon the weld which is'not praent in cordance with my invention. I preferto use a material of substantially the following composition:-

Per cent Bentonite clay 1 'Sodium bydroxide. 4. Sodium; carbonate 2 Titanium dioxide 18 Feldspar 53 Water '1be above percentages may be varied considerablywithoutdepartingirommyinventiomand Igivebelowtbelimitsofvariationpermissiblc inafluxoftheabovecomposition:-"

. Percent Bentoniteclay etc 5 I The base of this flux is feldspar which in the presence of titanium dioxide becomes viscous causing the flux to remain where it collects over themolten metal. In the presence of titanium dioxide. it has no tendency to run down under the arc and stop the welding operation. I preferto use a potassium feldspar, but other forms of feldspar may be used without departing from my invention. Sodium hydroxide forms with the titanium dioxide in the flux a titanate which has a beneficial fluxing action on the arc. hydroxide also acts to lower the melting point of the vitreous material in the flux causing it to form over the metal directly behind the arc. Any other alkali hydroxide having a melting point substantially the same as that of sodium hydroxide may be used. For example, potassium hydroxide is a suitable material. The chemical reaction between the titanium dioxide and the alkali hydroxide is rather sluggish but during the reaction enough water is given off to fill the molten slag with steam. This causes it to be very porous and very light, and the presence of the flux on the molten metal does not form depressions in the weld when enough of this material is used to form a satisfactory coating. The sodium carbonate has a fluxing effect on the molten metal. The bentonite clay above referred to is a hydrated aluminum silicate which forms a viscous solution or suspension with water. It. has a col-' loidal property and is sometimes referred to as colloidal clay. This material holds'the water in the flux long enough to prevent its being melted until the arc is quite near to it. This makes the flux melt at the proper time and prevents the are from shifting out of the pool. By reason of its presence the flux is used at the proper time and the resultant weld metal is cleaned more effectively. There are several forms of bentonite, but I prefer to use a material sold by the American Colloid Company of Chicago, Ill., under the trade name "Volclay.

This material has the following average analysis:-

Per cent 810 61.78 Fezm 3.10 E20 0.28 MnO -0.08 A1101 21.58 CaO .60 M8 2.62 K .31 Naa 2.22 S0: Trace Moisture at 110 C. 2.08 Ignition loss 4.73 Specific gravity 2.! .I'usion point 2482-2552 C.

As has noted above kinds of flux ing materials may be employed when welding in The sodium emar-1 accordance with myinven'tim. Jhave used a flux conststing of one part Sil-O-Cel" brick dust; one half part wood pulp, andtwopartsferro-manganese low invcarbon. These materials in powdered form are mixed into a paste with liquid sodium silicate. I have also used a flux of the following compositionz-equal parts of feldspar, talc, titanium dioxide and powdered cornstalks mixed into a paste with three times thetotal weight of the mixture of liquid sodium silicate.

The materials employed are preferably in finely age of from 28 to 32 volts. The penetration of the arc is in a large measure controlled by the rapidity with which the weld is made. On half inch plates I prefer to form the weld at about 10 inches per minute which will give a penetration of about $4 of an inch.

When using my preferred flux the weld is fine grained, non-porous, ductile and of great strength. When using boiler plate (A. S. M. E.

specifications) having a tensile strength of 59,000

pounds per square inch, the average tensile strength of the weld metal is from 60,000 to 67,000 pounds per square inch. Sixty-one per cent elongation without checking or cracking was obtained when subjecting the weld to a bending test. Using a ath inch steel ball and a 100. kilogram load, a Rockwell hardness test gave average readings of 68'for the parent metal, 71 for the zone between the weld and the parent metal, and 74 for the metal of the weld.

. Although not limited thereto myinvention is particularly adapted for welding with non-consuming electrodes, such as carbon or graphite electrodes. Other forms of non-consuming electrodes may be used, however, such as internally cooled metallic electrodes or electrodes formed of refractory materials such as tungsten, molybdenum or the like.

The thickness of the fiuxing material applied to the work may be much greater than the oneeighth inch above specified and will vary with the size and type of electrode employed. In fact, one of the characteristic features of my invention is that the fluxing material is applied to'the work as a comparatively thick coating. This coating 7 should be beat resisting and non-conducting in character, in order to have a confining action on the arc. Welds produced in accordance with my invention have a surface width of about '15 per cent the width of welds made by other methods in which the action of the arc is not confined. Alloying materials may be used in the fluxing material without departing from nrv invention, but I prefer to apply the alloying material to the weld in the form'of a filler strip since when suppliedin :the fluxing material it collects on the tip of the electrode attacking it and causing the action of the welding arcto become erratic thus producing poor welds. p I v It is preferable to employ current densities such as those above referred to by way of example, although my method of welding is in no way I dependent upon the use of such current densities.

It is also desirable not-to attempt to secure too great a penetration when welding in accordance with my invention for the arc will strike over to the sides of the crater formed in the work parts and produce poor welds.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is:

1. Welding apparatus comprising means for maintaining a welding are between an electrode and the work, means for traversing said electrode and the work relatively to one another, and means for applying a layer of flux material to the work in front of said electrode.

2. Welding apparatus comprising means for maintaining a welding are between an electrode and the work, means for traversing said electrode and the work relatively to one another, and

7 -means for applying to the work in front of said electrode a ribbon of pasty flux material.

3. Welding apparatus comprising means formaintaining a welding are between anelectrode and the work, means for traversing said electrode and the work relatively to one another, means trolling the amount of fluxing material applied to the work.

4. Weld ng apparatus comprising means for maintaining a welding are between an electrode and the work, means for applying to the work a coating of fluxing material of sumcient width and thickness to surround the arcing terminal of said electrode, and means for traversing said electrode and the work relatively to one another with the arcing terminal of said electrode in said fluxing material.

5. Welding apparatus comprising means for maintaining a welding are between an electrode and the work, means traversing said electrode and the work relatively to one another, means ining material of suflicient width and thickness to surround the arcing terminal of said electrode, means for supporting said nozzle with its discharge opening in front of said electrode,and means for controlling the amount of fiuxing ma terial applied to the work through said nozzle.

VIRDIS MILLER.

,cluding a nozzle for applying to the work a flux-- 

